*Available in the Asian foods section of supermarkets and at Asian markets.

Preparation

For vinaigrette:

Whisk oil, lemon juice, dill, tarragon, cilantro, green onion, and mustard in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Do aheadCan be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

For crab cakes:

Line baking sheet with waxed paper. Whisk first 10 ingredients in large bowl. Mix in crabmeat and 1 cup panko, breaking up crabmeat slightly. Let stand 10 minutes. Place remaining panko on rimmed baking sheet, spreading slightly. Form crab mixture into sixteen 2-inch-diameter patties, using about scant 1/4 cup for each. Press both sides of patties into panko. Transfer patties to waxed-paper-lined baking sheet. Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon oil in each of 2 heavy large skillets over medium-high heat. Add crab cakes to skillets and cook until golden on both sides, adding more butter and oil as needed, about 5 minutes total.

Place salad mix in very large bowl. Add 1/2 cup vinaigrette; toss. Arrange crab cakes on platter. Garnish with herb sprigs, drizzle with some of remaining vinaigrette, and serve with salad.

I have been making this recipe for a couple of years now. It's fantastic! Perfect for fresh dungeness crab here in the SF Bay Area. Key to this is using grape seed oil and finely ground panko crumbs. Love it!!! :)

Herbaceous, fresh tasting. Use super, super fresh Dungeness crab in this recipe if possible. Frozen crab or dryer aaskan won't work as well because this recipe brings out the flavor of the crab. Add a bit of chipotle mayo for a nice kick.

I've made this twice now to glowing reviews and because we just got some more fresh crab, will be making them again this afternoon. The first time I made them, I misread the recipe and used two whole eggs. The cakes held together beautifully and there didn't seem to be a downside. The second time, I used egg yolks as directed and the cakes didn't hold together quite as well- so back to whole eggs. I didn't have pkgs of herb spices but given other reviewers comments that may have been a good thing as the cakes without the extra herbs added are just lovely and will now be my go to recipe.

This is the first review I've ever done and I felt compelled to enthusiastically rate this recipe as superb! These cakes are so delicious, in large part due to the fresh lemon, herbs, and greens. I served them without the vinaigrette or any other sauce and they are so flavorful on their own I don't think they need anything more. I used fresh locally caught Dungeness crab, which I'm sure helped the flavor. My husband picked the crab while I made the cake mix. We made them the night before our party so it was great to be able to get this out of the way ahead of time, because it is time-consuming. But so worth it! I used fresh cilantro but the other herbs weren't available fresh so I used dried dill and tarragon (used about a 1/4 of the amount of dried that's called for). I think I ended up using less lemon peel than called for but they were still quite lemony. I doubled the recipe and ended up with 30 delicious cakes.

These are perfect. I did The recipe exactly. I used about a 2 1/2 inch round form and packed them tightly then let them rest 2 hours. Fried carefully and they came out really beautiful. The dressing was great both on the salad and the crab cakes. Definitely a keeper and a company item! Loved the balance of herbs.

Delicious! I used
saltine crackers in
the crab mixture, I
liked crackers
better than Panko
and it is certainly
less expensive. I
love tarragon, but
next time I will use
half as much. I felt
the tarragon
over-powered the
taste.

Very tasty but even
with adding more
mayo and the egg
whites they
completely fell
apart. Although I
did get rave reviews
from guests I was
disappointed with
the presentation
because they didn't
stay together.

These are probably
the best crab cakes
ever. While I am
sure they are good
enough as is, we had
no lemons so
substituted limes,
added a little
celery for texture
and ancho for smokey
heat. Yum! Agree
with the use of
grapeseed oil. Wow!
Enjoyed them in a
sandwich the next
day. Have more
stored in the
freezer for next
week, if they last
that long.

I thought these were quite tasty! Really loved the combination of the three herbs. I made a different salad so didn't bother making the vinaigrette portion of the recipe and reading some of the reviews it doesn't sound like I was missing out on anything.

First time making crab cakes and they were the best I've ever tasted. Despite not being a dill lover I found all three herbs were essential. I used regular bread crumbs and didn't have time to let mine sit, but they still turned out great. The dressing was excellent. Can't wait to make these again!

Four forks is right! My wife is from
NOLA, so I was a bit nervous about my
first attempt to make crab cakes for
her. These really impressed!
Next time, I will add another 6oz or
so of crab meat. I like them more
meaty, although these are not bready
in the slightest. The panko, when
cooked in high enough heat (grapeseed
oil is a must!), lends to a crispness
that regular breadcrumbs and low-heat
cooking cannot achieve.
Get the best crab you can find; the
cheap stuff won't do them justice.
The fresh herbs and lemon zest give
these a depth of flavor I found to be
sophisticated but not in a way that
tastes like they're trying too hard
to be fancy. Crab cakes can be
boring; these are not!

this was my first attempt at crab cakes and at first the fresh crab seemed daunting but they were SO worth it. the crab cakes were DELICIOUS! i used an extra egg yolk like others suggested and they were perfect!

Made this for
thanksgiving because
we tried to mix
things up a bit. We
don't do
Christmas...so
that's that. Woa,
what a hit!
I followed the
recipe on all counts
except for the
grape-seed oil,
which I subbed out
for plain old
conola.

Reviewing crab cakes only, as I served with a regular tossed salad and french bread for a light dinner. These were delicious. I love crab cakes where the flavor of the crab really shines through, without masking from heavy spices (I know Old Bay makes the crabcakes for some, but for me the spice just masks the flavor). These were all crab, just barely held together by the perfect amount of "filler," with the lovely sweet crab flavor at the forefront. My grocery did not have tarragon, and I don't care for dill, so I left those out and instead used two Tbs finely minced onion and extra cilantro and scallion. I think that the tarragon would have been fabulous, but I probably won't worry about the dill next time. I whipped up a lemon-caper mayo sauce to go alongside, and that was a nice accompaniment. Even my children liked these flavorful crab cakes!

Loved these crab cakes. They are very light and fresh tasting. Served these for a light Easter dinner (followed by an enormous heavy breakfast earlier that day.) I baked these instead of pan frying. I brushed the cookie sheet lightly with the grapeseed oil and baked on the top shelf until golden on each side. The herb salad alone would not be very good but it is perfectly paired with the crab cakes. Placed them next to bright red fresh strawberries. Beautiful and Springy!

Really good recipe but still needed a bit of tinkering.
I took the advice of other reviewers and used two whole eggs (the eggs I used were on the small side). Other people have said it was a touch bland so I doubled the amount of lemon zest, added some finely chopped ginger, some scallions (in addition to the green onions) and a little bit of chopped red & yellow peppers and thought the end result was wonderful.
I didn't care at all for the vinaigrette they suggest for the side salad but the crab cakes are some of the best I've tried.

I didn't have fresh herbs except cilantro and used regular bread crumbs. My big twist was I used canned CHICKEN instead of crab since that's what I had on hand. My family loved it!! Can't wait to try it with crab.

These crabcakes are excellent. I made them once with expensive, canned crab and once with a lower priced crab. Since they do take a lot of time to prepare, I suggest splurging on really good crab, because I could certainly taste the difference. I formed mine in a pastry cutter and packed it tightly so they kept a clean, round shape and made it easier to fry. The salad was a perfect accompaniment. I added some fresh avacado and served it with lemon wedges-a perfect brunch meal!

Didn't have many of the ingredients, so made some switches. Used the canned crab that is refrigerated, from Trader Joes. Like other reviewers, I just used a whole egg. Didn't have cilantro, or fresh dill or tarragon so I used them dried cutting them back like you should. Small amount of the dill since it was ground. Had only 1 c. of panko, so used breadcrumbs for the tray, about 1/2 to 3/4 c. Didn't have the scallions, so I used finely chopped purple onion. Added just a bit more mayonnaise and didn't wait the 1 hour to chill, just cooked them in a skillet. Didn't make the salad. Hubby loved them. Served them with brown rice and some Delicata squash. So good! Will make again, for sure.

These were amazing. Used herbs from the garden, skipped the tarragon because I don't particularly like it. Went straight from the recipe and they were absolutely fabulous. Served w/ brown rice, which is great with a little of the vinaigrette mixed in. My 9 year old said he thought we should have this for Christmas, it was so good. I will never buy store-made crabcakes again.